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Gnosis
'Gnosis' Those who Awaken to the Mysteries can work their will on the fabric of reality. This magical, empowered will is measured by Gnosis, the quality separating the Awakened from Sleepers. Gnosis marks a mage’s connection to the Supernal World and his Path’s Watchtower. It is the mechanism by which he can contact a higher reality. As part of the Mage Template, mages receive one dot of Gnosis as a result of their Awakening. Additional dots may be acquired with the expenditure of experience points, or initial Merit dots can be spent to add extra Gnosis (see p. 66). A Sleeper whose soul flickers is said to Awaken. He receives a blinding flash of insight, but does not gain a Gnosis rating. This Awakening is temporary unless it is cemented by the nascent mage’s successful attainment of a Watchtower. If he fails its tests, his insight fades and he falls back to Sleep. For those who do succeed and become mages, further increases in Gnosis come with hard work and dedication (i.e., the expenditure of experience points). Effects of Gnosis Gnosis is a trait rated from 1 to 10 dots. As the measure of a mage’s magical will, Gnosis has the following game effects. *Players roll Gnosis + Arcanum when casting improvised spells. Gnosis is the “raw ability” of this formula. While a mage’s knowledge of a particular Arcanum may vary, her Supernal power remains a constant. Mages with a high Gnosis rating are more proficient and powerful improvisational spellcasters. See “Spellcasting,” pp. 110-129, for complete details. *The higher a mage’s Gnosis, the more quickly he can cast elaborate or powerful spells. See “Extended Casting,” p. 121, for more details on how Gnosis affects the time per roll. *Gnosis affects a mage’s ability to quickly muster his innate magical energy, governing how many points of Mana a player can spend in a single turn. Gnosis also limits how much Mana a mage can hold within his Pattern. The higher his Gnosis, the more Mana he can store. See the “Effects of Gnosis” chart. *Mages with Gnosis 6 or higher can increase their Attributes and Skills past 5 dots. The potential of the mage’s Pattern is increased beyond the mundane, allowing him to bolster his Mental, Physical and Social capabilities to inhuman degrees. *Mages can maintain only a certain number of active spells simultaneously, equal to Gnosis +3. The more potent their Supernal will, the more spells they can keep active. A mage cannot exceed this limit. If he has already reached it, he must cancel one of his active spells before he can cast a new spell. *Mages can combine spells into a single casting. The total number a mage can combine into one casting is limited by his Gnosis. (He must also have a higher degree of Arcanum competence than normally required.) See “Combined Spells,” pp. 128-129, for complete rules. Drawbacks of Gnosis *Gnosis determines a character’s potential to gain mastery of an Arcanum and even master successive Arcana. It also determines his potential for archmastery. See the “Arcana Mastery” chart. *The higher a mage’s Gnosis, the harder it is for him to cloak or hide his personal or magical resonance from others. Anyone scrutinizing the mage or his spells might gain a bonus to observation rolls; see the Gnosis chart. *A mage’s odds of causing a Paradox with his magic increase as his Gnosis rises. His very will is increasingly out of synch with the Fallen World as his understanding of the higher world grows. See “Invoking a Paradox,” pp. 123-125. *+ Bonuses apply to anyone who magically scrutinizes the mage or his spells. *++ For extended-action spellcasting. See pp. 120-121. <<<< BACK